Category: Stories

See also inkston gallery. Guides and stories about chinese culture and history and the craftspeople keeping these alive today.

Lin FengMian 林风眠

We love Lin FengMian's art! Lin FengMian started Chinese painting at age of 6 by learning Manual of the Mustard Seed Garden and continued art…

BaDa ShanRen

BaDa ShanRen (八大山人) is art name of Zhu Da (朱耷, 1626 - 1705). He was descendant of Ming Dynasty's first emperor Zhu YuanZhang (朱元璋, HongWu…

Painting Fancy with Gold

  For people who are familiar with traditional Chinese paintings, it is obvious that there is an unspoken rule related to 'humble' and 'simplicity'. It…

Flower Heads – painting techniques from Mustard Seed Garden

Cover Photo: peach blossom and willow branches 桃花柳枝, by Yun ShouPing. Check Ancient Chinese Flower Paintings by Yun Shou Ping 恽寿平 for more of his…

Size My Xuan Paper?

Cover Photo: Inkston Xuan Paper Workshop Craftsman, taken on 6th June, 2018. How to make your raw Xuan paper more creative? Different from machine made…

Floral composition – painting techniques from Mustard Seed Garden

Cover Photo: 秋海棠图页 Autumn Begonia, painted by (to be confirmed). Different from our other posts on Mustard Seed Garden tutorial, this post helps to paint three…

Bird painting techniques from Mustard Seed Garden

Part of a series of articles on painting techniques from 'Mustard Seed Garden' manual and encyclopedia of chinese painting. Flower and Bird are always popular…

Emperor Huizong of Song and His Work of Art

  Emperor Huizong, personal name Zhao Ji, was in reign from 1100 to 1126. Although he has never been considered as a good ruler, he…

Painting Guide for Gongbi Style

Since our first article How to Paint Gongbi Style: Lotus Out of Water, we have received quite a few queries on Gongbi painting. These queries…

Yellow Mountain, HuangShan

Inkston studio has moved to Yellow Mountain to be closer to all our workshops! Yellow Mountain or 黄山 Huangshan, is a famous cultural spot which…

Painting Silk

Silk and tea might be the two most well-known products when we talk about China. Besides using for clothing, silk has been playing an important…

Chinese Seal Stones

For people who would like to carve their own seals, know how to choose a proper seal stone is a necessary skill. In this article,…